Jordan Reaves (born January 25, 1990) is a Canadian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

. He played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

and

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

. Reaves originally played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

for the

Brandon Bobcats The Brandon Bobcats are the athletic teams that represent Brandon University in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. Currently, there are six Bobcat teams competing in U Sports as members of the Canada West Universities Athletic Association while the Bobc ...

Canadian Interuniversity Sport U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body for universities in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country and four regional conferences: Ontario University Athletics (OUA), Résea ...

before making the switch to football.

College career

Reaves played from 2010-2014 for the

Brandon University Brandon University is a university located in the city of Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, with an enrolment of approximately 3,375 (2020) full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. The current location was founded on July 13, 1899, ...

Bobcats The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus ''Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the con ...

men's basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team.

Professional career

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Reaves was signed by his hometown

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

on April 9, 2015, following workouts in Winnipeg and at the 2015 Edmonton Regional Combine. He played in two pre-season games as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and recorded one catch for six yards. Reaves was part of the team's final cuts on June 20, 2016.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

After spending the

2015 CFL season The 2015 CFL season was the 62nd season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 58th Canadian Football League season. The Edmonton Eskimos won the 103rd Grey Cup on November 29, defeating the Ottawa Redblacks 26–20 in Winni ...

unsigned by a CFL team, Reaves signed with the

on January 29, 2016. While listed as a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

, Reaves practiced as a

through training camp and upon making the team, he dressed in his first regular season game on June 30, 2016, as a backup

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He played in five games for the Roughriders in 2016 and recorded two special teams tackles. He was released during training camp the following year on June 18, 2017. On May 20, 2018, he re-signed with Saskatchewan for 2018 training camp. Reaves signed a one-year contract extension with the Roughriders on December 21, 2020.

Edmonton Elks

Reaves joined the

in free agency on February 15, 2022. He played in eight regular season games in 2022 where he had two special teams tackles. The Elks announced Reaves was re-signed on July 3, 2023. In 2023, he played in 11 regular season games and recorded seven special teams tackles. He became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

upon the expiry of his contract on February 13, 2024.

Personal life

Jordan is the youngest son of former Winnipeg Blue Bomber

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Willard Reaves Willard Sheldon Reaves (born August 17, 1959) is an American-Canadian former professional gridiron football running back and politician. Reaves played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Canadian Football League (CFL), and for the Miami Dolphins a ...

, who played with the team for five years and was a member of the

72nd Grey Cup The 72nd Grey Cup was the 1984 Canadian Football League championship game, played November 18, 1984 at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton between the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The Blue Bombers dominated the Tiger-Cats in a 4 ...

winning team. Jordan is also the younger brother of Ryan Reaves, a professional hockey player and

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

for the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

. In February 2008, Reaves was charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, which he pleaded guilty to in December 2008, and received a conditional sentence, one year of supervised probation, and was not allowed to possess a weapon for 10-years. In 2016, Reaves was charged with one count of drug trafficking, but was set free on bail, after a routine traffic stop discovered cocaine in his possession. His trial in Winnipeg began in November 2017, where he pleaded his innocence. On January 24, 2018, he was acquitted of drug trafficking charges after the judge determined there was a lack of evidence. Reaves is the great-great-great-grandson of

Bass Reeves Bass Reeves (July 1838 – January 12, 1910) was a deputy U.S. Marshal, gunfighter, farmer, scout, tracker, railroad agent, and a runaway slave. He spoke the languages of several Native American tribes including Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Sem ...

, a former slave who was the first black lawman west of the Mississippi River and among the first black U.S. deputy marshalls; Reeves' life is the focus of the 2023 TV series '' Lawmen: Bass Reeves''. Bass served as a deputy U.S. marshal in

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the List of municipalities in Arkansas, third-most populous city in Arkansas, United States, and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County, Arkansas, Sebastian County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the pop ...

, under the direction of judge

Isaac C. Parker Isaac Charles Parker (October 15, 1838 – November 17, 1896), also known as "Hanging Judge" Parker, was an American politician and jurist. He served as a United States representative (congressman) in two separate districts subsequently from M ...

, known as the "Hanging Judge".

References

External links

Edmonton Elks profile

Brandon Bobcats profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reaves, Jordan 1990 births Living people Canadian football defensive backs Canadian football defensive linemen Players of Canadian football from Manitoba Saskatchewan Roughriders players Canadian football people from Winnipeg Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Canadian people of African-American descent Black Canadian players of Canadian football Black Canadian sportsmen Brandon Bobcats basketball players Basketball players from Winnipeg